Massa puts Williams at the top on day 1 Barcelona

Published on 26 February 2015 by Mike Motilall

Williams driver Felipe Massa, clocked the fastest time on the opening day of the last four days Formula 1-test. The Brazilian did a 1:23.500 on the softer compound during the midafternoon. Not only was that, by far, the fastest time set; but it also was the fastest time during both tests on Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson, was second and lapped the track the most with 122 laps. However, his 1:24.276 was done on a set of the ‘supersofts’.
Lewis Hamilton drove his Mercedes in 48 laps to a third position. Due to a problem with the MGU-K, that converts energy during braking back into electricity, the Brit was unable to be sent out after lunch. His 1:24.861, set in the morning on the medium compound, was enough for P3.

With some overcast, the 20-year old teammate of Max Verstappen, takes Toro Rosso’s new car for the first time for a spin. Sainz starts calmly but due to his constantly coming back to the pit, it takes an hour and a half before he even gets a time noted. He does a lot of practice starts and pit stops; clearly he was not pushing. The team collected a vast amount of data that provided insight in the newly gained down force. He drove his improved STR10 to the eight fastest time (1:26.962) and improved his time, set in the morning, by almost a second. The Spaniard halted just after three o’clock and Scuderia Toro Rosso, needed two hours to fix the problem with the electromotor. Yet Sainz managed to complete 86 laps.

Mclaren had even bigger problems, because Jenson Button only managed seven laps. A hydraulic leak meant an engine change, causing the day to end prematurely for McLaren-Honda, leaving them at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Technical director James Key reports, that the STR10, as is driven in Barcelona this week, is actually completely new, compared to the car that has been used so far. "Almost everything is new: aerodynamics, cooling, suspension and the nose. We knew this was the right direction, but because the technical challenge for a crash test is bigger, we first wanted to have a base. The nose and the rest of the car, as it is, is the actual racecar." 

With Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, both being rookies in the Formula 1, it was important to cover a lot of mileage. "We first wanted a reliable car, to get our drivers up to speed. This racecar is a great leap forward, compared to the car during the presentation. This is what we worked so hard for."
The team from Faenza, will present this version at the start at Melbourne in two weeks’ time.

On Friday, Max will be the next to drive the STR10 around the Barcelona track. They intend to also do long runs. On Saturday, his teammate will take over again; after which, on Sunday, Max will do the last test.

Third pre-season test - Barcelona day 1 - Thursday 26 February

Pos	Driver			Car		Time			Laps
1  	Felipe Massa 		Williams  	1m23.500s 		(103)
2  	Marcus Ericsson 	Sauber  	1m24.276s  +0.776 	(122)
3  	Lewis Hamilton 		Mercedes  	1m24.881s  +1.381 	(48)
4  	Daniil Kvyat 		Red Bull  	1m25.947s  +2.447 	(75)
5  	Romain Grosjean 	Lotus  		1m26.177s  +2.677 	(75)
6  	Kimi Raikkonen 		Ferrari  	1m26.327s  +2.827 	(80)
7  	Carlos Sainz		Toro Rosso  	1m26.962s  +3.462 	(86)
8	Jenson Button		McLaren		1m31.479s  +7.979	(7)